No doubt, being royals, Kate Middleton and Prince William have a lot of money and likely some fancy, expensive jewelry, which is a major attraction for those who live outside the law.
The Prince and Princess of Wales’s Kensington Palace home was the one targeted twice during the week by a burglar. According to the Times, said burglar, one Derek Egan, has been charged by the Metropolitan Police for breaking into the home Kate and Prince William live in when in London.
“The charges relate to incidents on Sunday, December 21, and Tuesday, December 23, when Egan was arrested on suspicion of trespassing on a protected site in Palace Green, Kensington,” a statement read from a Metropolitan Police spokesperson, given to The Times.
Intruder climbed into grounds of William and Kate’s home twice pic.twitter.com/mnHP6c77k2
— The Sun (@TheSun) January 1, 2026
Police officers detained Egan on two occasions, namely December 21 and 23. However, the thie4f didn’t gain access to Kensington Palace and luckily, Kate Middleton and Prince William were not at home during the attempted break-ins.
Palace guards first saw Egan on security footage and detained him until the police arrived, and he did later admit to trespassing on the palace grounds.
“The charges need the attorney-general’s consent because of national security concerns, but in this case, security concerns against the royal family. The attorney-general needs to consider any further security risks before granting consent to prosecute,” read a statement by the Crown Prosecution Service to The Times.
It turns out Kate, Prince William and their children, Prince George, Princess Charlotte, and Prince Louis, were spending the Christmas holidays at Anmer Hall, which nestles on King Charles’ Sandringham Estate.
However, attempted crime against royals isn’t something new. Us Weekly reported that the royal family has suffered multiple attempted break-ins. This has been happening quite a bit over the years, and has raised security concerns.
Probably the most famous break-in against the royal family happened in 1982. This criminal did manage to break into the property and was caught in Queen Elizabeth’s bedroom by palace guards. However, the criminal, Donald Fagan didn’t plan to hurt England’s monarch and only sought to hurt himself in front of the queen.
The incident was dramatized in the Netflix series, The Crown, which emphasized Queen Elizabeth and Fagan’s vulnerability, along with a failure of the royal security system.
While not in the UK, Prince Harry and Meghan Markle have apparently had six security alerts at their Montecito, California estate since 2020. Meanwhile, 2021 saw a man plotting to assassinate Queen Elizabeth using a crossbow, in retaliation for the 1919 Jallianwala Bagh massacre in India. Luckily, the man was caught on the grounds of Windsor Castle, preventing his attempt on the queen’s life.
Meanwhile, the latest attempted break-in has again put royal safety under scrutiny, while is also points to the ongoing challenge of keeping the royal family safe with the ongoing public attention. Moreover, as the royals are thought of as celebrities, no doubt many famous men and women, surrounded by the paparazzi, can relate to the family.
